


Memories Not Your Own

by sonicsora



Series: My Roots Run Deep Into The Hollow [1]
Category: Brütal Legend
Genre: 4th wall break joke, Angst, Demon biology is wild, Demons, Demons Are Assholes, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Humor, Implied human slavery, Post-Canon, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 10:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18636307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonicsora/pseuds/sonicsora
Summary: Ophelia and Eddie venture out into demonic lands, hoping to make a map for future human travel and explore the unknown desert that lay before them.Along the way they discover something neither expected about Eddie and his true heritage.





	Memories Not Your Own

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BrutalHearts666](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrutalHearts666/gifts).



> Written for Brutalhearts666 (Meme Emperor) since we got into a _wild_ discussion of demon biology in Brutal Legend.

He flipped his sunglasses up onto the top of his head as he squinted out of the dry landscape. As far as the eye could see, it was just dry dirt, cactuses and the occasional steel quill urchin wobbling around. “So this is it, huh? Desert town demontopia.” 

Ophelia gave a low amused sound at that, “Looks like a swamp to me.” She threw back casually, reaching out to playfully flick Eddie’s sunglasses down back over his eyes. “Wear them, maybe you’ll see better.” 

The roadie managed a fond eye roll, a smile curling across his lips. “Okay, okay- point taken for both topics.” He adjusted the sunglasses on his face back to their normal place before looking over at his girlfriend, “I ask since I’ve never been here before, you have.” 

“Not this far out.” Ophelia’s gaze drifted back to the desert. Her own sunglasses protected her from the intense mid-day sunlight pounding down over them. “Usually going this far out was considered a death sentence. Once you went over the bridge many colonies considered you dead.” 

“Considerin’ who the last few Emperor’s were… not a surprise. No one exactly had what we got with Ironheade to back them up.” Eddie surmised idly, with some reluctance he starts to drive again taking in the landscape as they go. He has no real plan in mind at the moment, just driving through the blistering landscape. The naturally hot air makes his skin itch in a way he’s not sure what to make of. He used to complain about the heat, but… things felt okay here. The heat felt almost comfortable. Eddie was going to toss that one up to the feeling of the breeze blowing by as they started to speed up helping. Top down, sunglasses on and accompanied by the hottest babe. Clearly he was living his best life. 

“There were enslavement camps closer to the plains, but- humans escaped often enough they pushed the slave camps back that no one would survive the trip away from demon territory.” Ophelia sighed a little at her hair whipping around, making a face as it slapped against her sunglasses lenses. The brunette at best grabbed what she could of her hair tying it back. Her words were only occasionally hindered by her struggle to contain her hair. “People attempting rescue missions, damn hair—“ Ophelia paused to swat at her hair before picking up on her thought, “Usually lead to more slaves on occasion for the Coil. Those who were foolish to wander into demonic territory rarely ever went back where they came from.” 

Eddie has to wince at the description, “Guess it worked out for the coil for a while.” 

“A very long while.” Ophelia’s words are softer, even if Eddie can’t see her face he can feel that frown in her voice alone. “Centuries.” 

“Not to derail from this serious discussion, butttt-“ He cut his gaze over to Ophelia, “You look hot with your hair up.”

“I feel hot from the weather, yes.” She arched a brow back clearly not understanding the slang. “My hair is up so its less hot.” 

“…Babe, I meant you look good, attractive, like I wanna kiss you even more than usual.” Okay slang wasn’t always gonna click here. He needed to give everyone a good summary of slang one of these days. Time to make a chart of slang to have on hand and present to the people. 

“Oh.” She blinked behind her sunglasses, surprise turned into a fond sort of smile. Eddie wanted to take his time to admire her face, but forced himself to focus on the road- well, desert ahead. Admiration of Ophelia would come after he finished driving. He was not going to dramatically crash now. 

Her voice nearly brought him back to looking at her. “Thank you.” 

“Just means I can like, kiss your neck a whole lot now.” 

Ophelia just laughed at that, lightly elbowing Eddie’s arm. “Focus on getting us somewhere, Eddie. So far we’ve been driving nowhere.” 

“Guess we should figure out where exactly we’re headed…” He agreed with a frown, “Too bad we can’t just ask for directions.” 

“No human mapmakers have ever been out here.” Eddie could hear even over the winds whipping around them Ophelia rooting around the bag at her feet. “It’s why I brought supplies to mark things down. We’re the first out here since Doviculus fall, so we need to make the map.” 

“Maps are always a first good step to figuring out where the fuck anything is.” He agreed easily, though an odd pang settled over him as he made a turn through the sands. Technically he knew he was just obviously driving nowhere fast. 

This place looked so same-y no wonder no one knew where the fuck anything was. Demons somehow didn’t do the whole road sideshow stops. The lack of giant dinosaurs or a demonic version of Las Vegas was truly heart breaking. 

“Should we head back where we came from to start on the map?” Eddie questioned as he drove, trying to distract the odd… pull he was feeling by focusing on Ophelia. Things seemed familiar, but hey… all deserts kinda looked the same right? Deserts, completely the same everywhere and in every time period. 

“Probably, but- its good to cover some ground now.” She mused, not looking up from her rifling around. “It gives me time to collect the supplies from my bag and get everything set up.”

“Told ya you shoulda downsized on the bag.” He teased readily, smiling once again. She blew out a soft snort at that, waving him off. Sure he couldn’t exactly see it, but he could pretty much feel it from Ophelia. The gesture wasn’t all that uncommon at this point. He had to laugh now as he slowed the car on the next turn. 

“Yeah, yeah, you packed so much I’m shocked the trunk closed.” She had a point about that. Not that he was going to own up to it yet. 

“Psh, I’m being prepared.” 

“So I am.” She threw back casually, finally looking up from her work to squint at her boyfriend. The brunette blinked a little, “Huh… Would you look at that.” 

“Look at-“ He didn’t get to really finish the sentence as he realized he had been slowing down to a stop in front of an old wrecked wrought iron gate. His mind had been focused enough on Ophelia he had been going on autopilot for a bit. The pointed spires of the gates were bent at an odd angles, rust having settled over the metal in spots as the door hung limply seeming on the edge of falling off. There had been decorative images placed in the gate once, but given the shredded metal, it was clear this place had seen better days.

Eddie swallowed nervously, trying to ignore the uncomfortable edge that settled in his gut. It wasn’t that he was creeped out or worried, it was… 

The gate wasn’t supposed to look like that. 

_The gate was new last time, so nice and new with the Titans engraved upon the metal, made out of iron and chrome-_

“Wow, you- for random driving you got us somewhere.” Ophelia mused, grabbing some parchment and bone pen as she moved to get out of the car. Her sneakers thudded into dirt, kicking up a cloud of sand in her wake. 

“Woah, don’t run off-“ Eddie whipped around fumbling to unbuckle his seat belt and join his girlfriend. “We dunno what’s in there, babe.” 

“I know, but- I’m gonna find out.” She winked a little, tucking the pen in her hair for now. Eddie was relieved she didn’t run off without him. He joined her readily, grabbing his axe before they moved towards the gate. Once his weapons were settled on his back, he flipped his sunglasses up again. The place was still giving him strange vibes he couldn’t quite place. 

“Looks like this has been wrecked for a long time.” She mused taking a moment to roughly draw out the gate. Eddie watched for a moment before drifting forward past the gate into the enclosed area. He let his gaze drift across what he supposed were cobblestones, most had been ripped up or kicked up. Plant life had started to take root in places or sand had filled in the gaps. Past the stones lay what Eddie could guess were houses. 

No, what he _knew_ were houses. _Houses that once stood grandly glittering under the harsh desert sunlight with grand towers and monuments to the Titans themselves._ Once proud buildings bent with age and abandonment, sand having poured over it eroding what was left. He knew the lay of the cobblestoned pathway, the twists leading deeper into the city. 

“Huh.” He managed, resting a hand against his chest uncertainly. This felt… wrong. He blinked rapidly behind his sunglasses trying to steady himself as he took in the buildings. 

“This was a city once.” He mused aloud, surprised as words poured out of him so naturally he couldn’t catch them. The words almost felt like they didn’t belong to him. “A real busy city, close to the demonic capital…” 

Ophelia shot him a curious glance, “Oohkay? You’re getting this from one look around?” 

Eddie awkwardly shook his head, somehow not sending his sunglasses flying in the process. “Uh, it’s… just a guess. I mean, I’ve seen cities ‘fore you know back where I came from.” Discomfort pooled in his gut as he tried to find _anywhere_ to look that didn’t immediately make him uncomfortable. So much felt like he should know it from somewhere. A disquieting feeling that lingered the longer he looked. 

“Right.” Ophelia didn’t sound too convinced but wasn’t pushing the issue. Eddie was avoiding looking directly at her for now, trying to focus on calming his oddly frayed nerves. “The real question is how far we are from the capital.” 

“Bout four hours off.” He estimated casually as he adjusted his sunglasses before realizing what he said, he paused for a long moment. His eyes darted around anxiously. “Uh. I’m guessin’.” 

“….Right.” He could practically feel Ophelia squinting at him suspiciously now. “I’d ask if you’d been here before, but I know how far you’ve been into demon land.” 

“Not real far.” Eddie was quick to supply, trying to not panic internally as his girlfriend continued giving him a wary look. Her continued stare only made his voice take an uptick in volume and his mouth to brain filter go wonky. “Some demon stuff seems kinda similar to human stuff, real weird! Demons sure are weird!” 

“Riiiight.” 

“Haha, those demons. _**Wild**_.” He stated more loudly than he intended as he picked a direction and marched off. Ophelia called after him, quick to follow. Eddie just laughed awkwardly eyes darting around desperately. 

“Hey! You can’t nag me about running off and go off on your own.” She gave his arm a rough pat, tugging him to a stop. Eddie stumbled but didn’t topple over into the sand thankfully. If he had been going any faster his momentum would have sent him into the ground. 

“I’m just so excited for map making.” He blusters back, still avoiding eye contact with Ophelia. That earned a disapproving sound from the brunette as she circled around to stand in front of Eddie. She jabbed him in the chest with the bone pen, frowning up at him.

“Now I’m getting mildly worried.” 

“Only mildly?” 

“You haven’t buried your head in the sand and started screaming yet.” 

“Keyword being yet.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood hadn’t worked given the look Ophelia was giving him. “Okay, uh. Fuck.” He struggled to find the proper words for what the fuck he was feeling. 

Ophelia just stared at him expectantly, not moving an inch. 

Eddie chewed at his bottom lip for a moment longer before he managed to speak up. “So, you ever hear of deja-vu?” 

“Dj voo?” 

“Okay, so that’s a no.” Eddie dragged a hand down his face, before sinking into himself awkwardly. “It’s a feeling you get when you’re doin’ or seein’ something similar. Like, you totally did this already before hand.” He awkward waved a hand hoping what he was saying made sense. “I’m getting a major case of that right now. I feel like… I’ve been here.” 

Her eyes widened behind her sunglasses, “What-?”

“But I haven’t-“ Eddie quickly threw in, holding his palms up placatingly. “I’ve never been here, but it feels like I have. It feels like I walked into a fucked up version of my own childhood home. Like- I dunno. It’s really throwing me the fuck off.” 

Ophelia frowned, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “It feels familiar-?” 

“Yeah, like I’ve been here a million times before… in the past, but not?” He scratched his cheek now, frowning. Eddie fell into silence, awkwardly digging the heel of his sneaker into the sand. Ophelia tapped the end of the pen against her lips. “You said this was near the demon capitol right?” 

“Yeah, well, I’m kinda assumin’ so.” He sighed a little, reluctant to even speak aloud the _rightness_ of how close the demon capitol felt from here. “It feels like it should be.” 

Ophelia was clearly on a roll, her lips curling into a curious kind of smile. “Demons are all about tradition so, maybe this was how things were when Succoria was ruling?” 

Eddie tilted his head a little at his girlfriend’s words. “Huh?” 

“Eddie, your part demon, even remotely. I always kind of guess demons had to inherit some kind of basic knowledge through breeding to function perfectly out of the womb when born but-“ 

“Woah, woah, woah-“ He held up his hands again, “What?” 

The brunette blew out a sigh. “You could have gotten some of your mother’s memories.” 

“That makes zero sense.” 

“You make zero sense.” It wasn’t even a sharp retort as much as a state of facts. Ophelia waggled her pen back at him as she spoke. “Mr. Half Demon Roadie From the Future, Who Happens To Know Everything We Needed To Win The Rebellion.” Eddie just huffed crossing his arms over his chest, on the edge of a pout. 

“If I knew you were goin’ to roast me, I would have thrown myself on a spit.” 

She tapped his nose with the pen impatiently, “How else do you know any of this? Or have any like strong feelings about a place like this?” 

“I dunno, plot connivence?” 

Ophelia paused, openly confused by that. “Wha-“ 

Eddie waved his hand, deciding not to address the clear 4th wall break. The plot needed to move forward, damn it. “Look, lets say you’re right. Shouldn’t it… I dunno kicked in sooner?” 

“Maybe coming here is more familiar territory?” She threw back resting a hand on her hip. Ophelia decided to focus on the actual argument opposed to Eddie’s… strangeness. “I really doubt your mother ever visited Bladehenge territory. She was Emperor, she had… demon ruling to do? Orgies to run?” 

Eddie grunted a little, still not entirely convinced. Ophelia had him with logic, his greatest weakness. “I… Guess?” 

“It’s about the best option we _have_. Do you have any ideas?” She paused for a moment, “Besides aggressively falling into denial over a topic that makes you uncomfortable.” 

Eddie hunched into himself, Ophelia was too observant and apparently set on roasting him. “Fuck.” He muttered, full pouting now. He dug the toe of his sneaker into the sand unhappily. Ophelia reaches out more kindly to rest a hand against his back. The gently touch is enough to make Eddie relax considerably. 

“Lets test it out today. See if it is true and see what we come up with. It could help with the map.” She arches a brow back, waiting for Eddie’s response. 

“Yeah…” He dipped down to steal a kiss, earning an amused muffled laugh from Ophelia, who was more than happy to steal a kiss for herself as well. It turned into a lot of kissing for a few moments. Both were little breathless when they broke apart. 

“Might as well use my horrifying demon gifts for something good.” Eddie huffed back once he was free from kissing. 

“I love you and your horrifying gifts.” She reassured with a playful smile, earning a laugh from Eddie. Ophelia hooked her arm with his, dragging him down a partially demolished cobblestone pathway. Eddie found himself able to slowly but surely explain shit he _shouldn’t_ know about half of these places. Ophelia took notes, and doted on him when things got too weird for his tastes. 

At least they were sort of productive during all of this. No way in hell was he explaining to Lita or anyone else in Ironheade how he and Ophelia discovered any of this though. They could bullshit finding some old notes or whatever. 

He and Ophelia still hadn’t figured out how the fuck they were going to bring up the half-demon thing to everyone. Neither were quite sure if the idea was _safe_ to talk over with their fellow man. There was no safe way to test the waters of the topic, no safe way to bring it up without people likely lashing out.

Eddie knows he doesn’t want to be the cause of Ophelia being kicked out again, much less lose her by being thrown out for what he is. He knows his girlfriend by now, he knows she’d follow him, or at least fight for him in a way no one else would. He didn’t want to be the reason she lost everyone, be the reason they had nothing. The worry niggles at him as they walk around, as Ophelia writes down notes and comments on demon structures. The worry bites at him when they find what’s left of cages and sun-bleached human skeletons therein. 

A reminder of just what demons were and why humanity hated them was staring at him right in the damn face. _'These are your people too, look what they've done.'_. He reminds himself, hands shaking at his side as Ophelia drifts away to look over the cage. 

The sun was setting by the time they made it back to the Druid Plow. Eddie was more than relieved to see the comfort of his own car after walking around a dilapidated city for nearly an entire day. He fished the keys from his pocket, jingling them at Ophelia as he speaks. “Think you can drive, babe?” He questioned after a moment. “I’m feeling kinda wiped. Dunno if I’ll be the best driver right now.” 

“I think we should probably camp out here for now.” The brunette stated, casually taking the keys and walking towards the car’s trunk. “It’s getting late and it’ll start getting cold very quickly out here.” She pops open the trunk, tucking the keys in her own pocket before grabbing the tent. 

“Point.” He rubbed at his chin tiredly, just wanting to curl up at next to Ophelia instead of really think about anything else. He moves over to help. Setting up the tent at least isn’t a major pain in the ass. They settle the tent itself next to the car, a just in case they need to get the hell out of here in a hurry. There is no telling what the hell will happen in the desert. 

Eddie hammers down the edges of the tent as Ophelia heads back to the trunk to grab the layers of animal furs to layer over the sandy ground within the tent. She’s lived in tents long enough she has the situation down pat. The roadie is just glad to collapse on the furs once everything is set up. He half-asses his way out of his shoes and jeans kicking them off into a corner as he curls up in the largest pile of furs. His bracers and belt are chucked after them so he can actually sleep without stabbing himself.

Ophelia isn’t any better, half undressed and chucking her clothing aside before crashing down next to him. Eddie drapes an arm over her, burying his face into her hair. He can feel her fingers drift across his side slowly, the gesture more or less making him melt into her. 

“Do you…” His mouth works before his brain can shut down the thought. His voice goes soft and uncertain in places. “Do you think I’m a freak?” 

Ophelia’s hand drifts to touch his face. Her expression dropping into something pained and sympathetic. “Eddie.” 

“I’m sorry, I know that’s a stupid fuckin’ question.” He starts to verbally back peddle, his heart jumping against his ribs in a panic. Doubt and fear rattle against him and he’s half afraid he’s done something supremely idiotic. "HA, Ha Ha, look at me askin' the weirdest shit!" 

She presses a finger against his lips to silence him. He goes quiet under her touch almost automatically. Trusting in her enough he won't interrupt. “ _Eddie_. At least let me say something.” She lets her hand drift to touch his cheek again, cupping it in her palm. Ophelia takes a moment to think over her words before she speaks clearly and softly.

“You’re a half demon, it… can be kind of scary sometimes.” She is honest if anything, but continues before he can shrink away. “You’re still Eddie though, you’re still _my_ partner in crime. We’ll figure all of this out together, okay?” 

He nods weakly after a moment, chewing at his bottom lip anxiously. “You… promise?”

She shimmies closer so she can press a kiss against his lips. “I promise.”


End file.
